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A 37-page letter made public by a federal court as part of a trade secrets case reveals that Uber assembled an intelligence team in the summer of 2016.

The letter, which was sent from an ex-Uber official directly to the ride-hailer last May, has only now come to light. But it suggests that Uber's own spies, some of whom were trained by the CIA, were busy intercepting phone calls between rivals and lawmakers, and hacking other firms for details about drivers. The BBC notes that Uber says it hasn’t substantiated all the allegations, but the claims could bring criminal probes in 2018.

Jamie CondliffeI’m the editor of news and commentary for MIT Technology Review. I put together our daily e-mail newsletter, The Download, from my base in London before everyone in the U.S. manages to wake up. I previously worked at New Scientist and Gizmodo, and I hold a PhD in engineering science from Oxford University.

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Jamie CondliffeI’m the editor of news and commentary for MIT Technology Review. I put together our daily e-mail newsletter, The Download, from my base in London before everyone in the U.S. manages to wake up. I previously worked at New Scientist and Gizmodo, and I hold a PhD in engineering science from Oxford University.

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